Maltreater

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who inflicts cruel, abusive, or harmful treatment on another individual or animal
2. Someone who handles or uses another being in a rough, unkind, or injurious manner
3. An individual who subjects someone or something to poor, violent, or neglectful treatment

Etymology: "Maltreater" is formed from the verb "maltreat" with the agent suffix "-er", so it names one who maltreats. The verb itself is built from "mal-", a prefix borrowed from French meaning "badly" or "ill" (from Latin "male", "badly"), joined to "treat". Put together, the parts literally describe someone who treats another ill. The "mal-" prefix shows up in many English words, such as "malfunction", "malnutrition" and "malpractice", which all share the same sense of wrongness or badness. Because "maltreat" is a transparent compound, the noun needs no special explanation: the suffix "-er" simply attaches to a verb to name the doer of its action, as in "teacher" or "baker".

Synonyms: abuser, tormentor